Road Safety Centre closed due to landslip damage

Published on 28 August 2019

The City of Launceston's Road Safety Centre in South Launceston has been closed - effective immediately - due to a recent landslip.

 City of Launceston General Manager Michael Stretton said while the decision to close the centre was extremely unfortunate, the safety of people and families using the facility took priority.

 "There has been a slippage behind the walls of the centre, which has caused quite severe cracking in the structure itself," Mr Stretton said.

 "The recommendation we've had from engineers is to shut down the centre immediately."

 The centre is housed within a former water reservoir, which is almost 150 years old.

 "While this is extremely disappointing for the thousands of Northern Tasmanian families who use the centre every year, the majority for children's birthday parties, safety must be our overriding priority," Mr Stretton said.

 "At this stage, engineers will assess the facility and we expect to have a report back to Council within the next month."

 Mr Stretton said that in terms of the landslip, there does not appear to be any impact outside the facility and no adjoining properties appear to have been affected.

 All existing bookings at the facility will be cancelled and Council staff will personally contact everyone who has made bookings to arrange a full refund.

 "I would encourage anyone impacted by the closure to consider relocating to one of the Council's many other free facilities such as the recently opened Riverbend Park, Punchbowl Reserve, the City Park, Heritage Forest or the Cataract Gorge," Mr Stretton said.

 "All of these locations are free for the community to use, and also have barbecue facilities that would be more than suitable."

 The Council recently refurbished the Road Safety Centre - installing a lift and upgrading the playground facilities.

 "Obviously our preference is to see this facility repaired and reopened as soon as possible. But that decision will be entirely contingent on the recommendation of the engineers' report," Mr Stretton said.